Soil knowledge

Soil is the living skin of the Earth through which the lithosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere interact, and it plays a fundamental role in the life of our planet because it regulates the cycles of water, carbon, phosphorus, and nitrogen. Soil is largely a non-renewable common good, sensitive to the effects of climate change and human activities. This resource is recognized for its vital functions:

• Productive: almost all vegetation has its roots in the soil and draws nourishment and water from it.
• Regulatory: the characteristics of the soil determine the movement of water within it (hydrological cycle), the transport of solid particles, and the propensity for erosion.
• Protective: the soil is a biological filter, capable of retaining pollutants and protecting surface and groundwater resources and food chains.
• Naturalistic: it represents an important reserve of biodiversity as it is the richest habitat of plant and animal organisms.
• Climatic: it plays a role in the carbon cycle, affecting the energy balance of the Earth’s surface and the climate.
• Settlement: it hosts buildings, road infrastructures, and distribution networks and is a source of raw materials such as clay, sand, and gravel.
• Historical-environmental: it preserves traces of environmental changes and human history.

The Geology, Soils, and Seismic Survey is engaged in activities aimed at deepening the knowledge of soils necessary for their agronomic and environmental enhancement and for their proper management through territorial planning. To this end, it has carried out and continues to carry out pedological surveys that have allowed over the years to acquire knowledge of the characteristics of the soils, which it has disseminated through Catalogs. Soil maps have been published at different scales, periodically updated, and there is a geographic information system. Awareness raising activities are carried out through websites, seminars, conferences, activities with schools and social networks.